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Rhode Island Historical Society 




REPORT UPON THE 
BURIAL PLACE OF 
ROGER WILLIAMS 



BY 



HOWARD M. CHAPIN 



PROVIDENCE 
1918 



CONTENTS 



Report 

Appendix I Stiles Account .... 

II Packard's Account 

III Miss Packard's Account 

IV Sumner's Account 
V Allen's Account of the Excavations 

VI Statement of Brown and Sessions 

" VII Ashton Inscription 

" VIII Foster's Account . 

" IX Diagram of Traditions 

" X Daniel Williams Statement 

" XI Record of Town Meeting 

" XII Chase's Map 



Page 
5 

12 
13 
14 
15 
19 
24 

25 
26 
28 
29 
30 
31 



The undersigned, a committee appointed by the Executive Com- 
mittee of the Rhode Island Historical Society, have examined the 
following report and are of the opinion that the burden of evidence 
shows that Roger Williams was buried on his own home lot north- 
west from the present corner of Bowen and Pratt Streets. 

Wilfred H. Munro 
Howard W. Preston 
Charles D. Kimball 
Norman M. Isham 
Howard M. Chapin 



REPORT UPON THE BURIAL PLACE OF 
ROGER WILLIAMS MADE BY HOWARD 
M. CHAPIN IN ACCORDANCE WITH A 
RESOLUTION OF THE EXECUTIVE COM- 
MITTEE OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORI- 
CAL SOCIETY, PASSED DECEMBER 12, 1917 

The earliest reference to the location of Roger Williams' grave 
Seems to have been in 1771, when a committee was appointed by 
the freemen of Providence to ascertain the spot where he was buried 
and to draft an inscription for a monument which it was then voted 
to erect "over the grave of the Founder of this Town and Colony." 
(Allen's Memorial of Roger Williams, p. 2. 

No report of this committee is extant, but Ezra Stiles in October, 
1785, writing in regard to Roger Williams' burial place, states that 
"all tradition agrees that he was buried on his own Home lot near 
his own dwelling house whose cellar I saw." {Stiles' Literary Diary 
V. HI, p. 191.) Stiles talked with the members of the committee and 
was acquainted with its findings. He states that Governor Hopkins 
was of the opinion that the grave was at the north corner of the 
house, and that the others, Sessions, Brown, and Bowen were "rather 
doubtful whether it was not ten rods S. E. on a Lot afterwards Rev. 
Mr. Cottons." (Ibid.) Stiles evidently meant S. W. and not S. E. 
as is shown by his map. 

The above account by Stiles was unknown to Zachariah Allen, 
who writing in 1860 states that Governor Sessions told Governor 
Allen that the committee had "satisfactory knowledge of the locality 
of his (i. e., Roger Williams') family burial ground, east of Benefit 
Street." (Allen 2.) Also Allen records that Moses Brown in 1836 
said that the above described burial lot had "always been considered 
as that of the family of Roger Williams, but that his grave was un- 
known." (Allen 2.) 

Thus apparently both Sessions and Brown come around to 
Governor Hopkins' point of view before they died, and give up the 



theory that he was buried in the Cotton lot which was west of Bene- 
fit Street. 

Incidentally it may not be out of place to state that Stephen 
Hopkins was a far more careful historian than Moses Brown, who 
at times interpolated words even in original documents in order to 
emphasize his own theories. Neither Bowen nor Sessions have any 
reputation for historical work. 

Miss Packard likewise located Williams' grave at this point, 
her father having told her that he had been let down into the grave 
next to it when he was 10 years old, i. e., about 1740. (Allen 4.) 

Thomas M. Sumner, writing in 1834, agrees with Hopkins as to 
the place where tradition in 1774 located Roger Williams' grave. 
(R. I. H. S. MSS. V. 10, p. 76.) 

Theodore Foster in 1819 refers to the same place as the location 
of Roger Williams' grave. (Knowles, Memoir of Roger Williams 431.) 

Now to the objections. The earliest objections to the theory 
that Roger Williams was buried upon his home lot did not make their 
appearance until the twentieth century. The objectors claimed that 
he was buried on Daniel Williams' lot at Benefit and Power Streets. 
They gave as their reasons that Roger Williams lived with his son 
Daniel and that therefore when he died he would have been buried 
on Daniel's lot. 

There is however no real evidence that he lived with his son Daniel. 
The following extract from a letter that Daniel wrote in 1710 was 
the basis for this supposition: "so that he being not in a way to 
get for his supply, and being ancient, it must needs pinch somewhere. 
I do not desire to say what I have done for both father and mother. 
I judge they wanted nothing that was convenient for ancient people, 
&c." (Knowles 111.) 

The next problem is to determine in which burial lot he was in- 
terred, for it is claimed that there were two burial lots on the Wil- 
liams' home lot. One east of Benefit Street, where Hopkins, Pack- 
ard, Sumner, Randall and Foster state that he was buried; and 
one west of Benefit Street, "ten rods S. E." as Stiles states, but 
draws on his map as ten rods S. W. The reason for this error on the 
part of Stiles is quite clear for Stiles wrote "An aged Mr. Brown, 
living outside of Providence said to the Committee that he well 
remembered Roger Williams' death and funeral and that he was 
buried under arms; and that although he, the said Brown, was not 
present at the funeral yet he knew well that the grave was in that 



part of the lot which is ten rods S. E. from dweUing house on lot 
afterwards Mr. Cottons and afterwards Dr. Bowens." (Stiles III 
192.) This explains how Stiles inadvertantly wrote S. E. in both 
places instead of S. E. in one and S. W. in the other. Dr. Bowen, 
the owner of the lot, and hence a biased witness, "positively asserted 
the Grave was on his Lot." (Stiles III 192.) 

Moses Brown and Governor Sessions were at first in doubt be- 
tween the Hopkins theory and the Brown-Bowen theory, being 
rather in favor of the latter, but later decided in favor of the Hopkins 
theory. 

Rider in his confused criticism, which is more of a criticism of 
Allen's composition and accuracy, than of the question at issue, 
gives no evidence against the Hopkins' theory. {Book Notes v. 24 
p. 57.) He merely claims that the identity of which of the graves 
is Roger Williams' is not certain. 

The chief flaw in the Brown-Bowen theory seems to be the fact 
that the Cotton-Bowen lot, was not part of the Roger Williams home- 
lot, but was part of the John Throckmorton home-lot, which passed 
to Henry Wright and thence to Samuel Wright who held it from 1677 
to 1717 and so at the time of Williams' burial. Thence it passed to 
Benjamin Wright who sold it to Joseph Williams in 1718. Jabez 
Bowen purchased the Cotton lot in 1723, and another part of the 
Joseph Williams' lot in 1739. In 1742 Bowen purchased a small 
strip of the original Roger Williams lot but this strip did not extend 
even half way to Benefit Street and was north of the Cotton house 
and so could not have included a grave which was 10 rods S. E. of 
the Cotton house. Any grave 10 rods S. E. of the Cotton house 
would have been on the home lot of John Throckmorton. But 
inasmuch as Bowen purchased his land from Joseph Williams he 
doubtless thought he was purchasing the Williams' home lot, which 
however at this time had passed into the hands of the Thayers and 
Tourtellots. 

Packard's statement is the only evidence which identifies the 
grave of Roger Williams. Although his story is extraordinary the 
practical part of it is substantiated by the excavations made in 1860. 
His evidence is not first-hand, but is the tradition of 1739, a tradition 
50 years old. 

Stiles in 1785 calls the southwest grave that of Roger Williams. 
Stiles however located but 5 graves in his sketch, and 7 graves were 
opened. 



"After the removal of the turf and loam, down to the hard sur- 
face of the subsoil, the outlines of seven graves became manifest, 
the three uppermost (i. e., eastern) on the hillside being those of 
children, and the four lower (i. e., western) ones, those of adults. 

"It was immediately discovered that two of the latter adjoined 
each other, thus manifestly showing in accordance with the testi- 
mony of Capt. Packard, that when the last one of the two was dug, 
the end of the coffin contained in the other must have been laid 
open to view." (Allen 5.) The two adjoining graves were the northerly 
ones on the western and centre rows. (Map of 1860.) 

"The easterly grave was evidently the most recent, as the exact 
shape of the cofhn was visible by a carbonaceous black streak of the 
thickness of the edge of the sides of the coffin." (Allen 6.) No such 
tangible remains were found in the northwest grave, hence it would 
appear that the north grave of the centre row was that of Patience 
Ashton, and the northwest grave was that of Roger Williams. This 
is made still more probable by the fact that a lock of braided hair 
was found in the south grave of the western row, proving it to be 
the grave of a woman. It would be natural for Roger Williams and 
his wife to be buried beside each other. 

Stiles read the inscription on Patience Ashton's grave in 1785 
and gives it "inscribed Patience Ashton, wife of Philip Ashton, who 
died as the stone says 1739 aged 63." (Stiles III, 193.) 

The three graves on the eastern row were those of children, doubt- 
less the children of Mrs. Ashton, that died before their mother. 

This accounts for all the graves except the south one on the middle 
row. It might be expected that this would be the grave of Mr. 
Ashton, but he and his second wife were buried in St. John's church- 
yard. It is probably the grave of Providence Williams who died 
during the lifetime of his father Roger Williams. He was unmarried 
and probably lived with his parents. 

Mrs. Ashton's grave was the best preserved, which was what 
would be expected because it was the latest interment. 

Although there is no documentary or contemporary evidence in 
regard to the burial place of Roger Williams, yet the preponderance 
of the traditional evidence, coinciding with the customary and most 
probable proceedings for that period, leaves no reason to doubt 
that he was buried on his own home-lot. The identity of the graves 
in the burial lot on the Williams home-lot rests upon the testimony 
of Mr. Packard, who records the traditions of 1740, traditions of 

8 



less than sixty years. Inasmuch as the most extraordinary part 
of Packard's account was substantiated by the excavations of 1860, 
and that his identification of the graves coincides with what would 
have been the natural arrangement, it seems safe to conclude that 
the burden of evidence points to the probability that the northwest 
grave was the grave of Roger Williams. Inasmuch as the three 
eastern graves were the graves of children, and the north central 
and southwest graves were those of women, it follows by elimina- 
tion that only the northwest and south central graves could have 
been those of men. Patience Ashton was buried in the north central 
grave, hence Mrs. Williams must have been buried in the southwest 
one, and it certainly would seem more probable that Roger Williams 
was buried beside his wife than behind her. 







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STILES' MAP 

SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THE TWO GRAVE YARDS 

Original is in Stiles' Papers, Yale University Library 



10 















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STILES' DIAGRAM 

SHOWING THE GRAVES IN THE WILLIAMS BURIAL LOT 

Original is in Stiles' Papers, Yale University Library 

11 



APPENDIX 1. 
stiles' account 

"At Provid. Oct. 6, I visited the Place of Roger Williams Lands, 
House, Spring, & Grave. There is some uncertainty as to the last, 
altho' the grave may be ascertained within ten Rods. Ten or a 
doz. y. ago the T" of Prov. voted to erect a Monumt upon his Grave 
and appointed a Committee Gov. Hopkins, D. Gov. Sessions, M^ 
Moses Brown & present h<- Gov. Bowen, who examine the two places, 
Traditions & Evidences. I now conversed with Gov. Bowen & Mr. 
Brown. All Tradition agrees that he was buried on his own Home 
Lot & near his own Dwells house, whose Cellar I saw. Gov. Hopkins 
was of opinion it was the Grave at the north corner of the House 
within two paces: the others rather doubtful whether it was not 
ten Rds S. E. on a Lot afterw^s Rev. Mr. Cottons. The Amot of the 
Evidence thus. It has been the general Idea that it was by the 
Cellar, & Strangers & I myself years ago have been shewn these 
Graves and one as for Roger W™^; on the contrary an aged Mr. 
Brown liv out of Provid. said to the Committee he well remembered 
R. W'"3 Death & Funeral & that he was buried under Arms; & that 
altho' he s^ Brown was not present at the Funeral yet he knew 
well that the Grave was in that part of the Lot which is ten Rds. 
S. E. fr. Dwells House on Lot afterw^s Mr. Cottons & afterwards 
Dr Bowens. Old D^ Bowen that lived on the spot positively as- 
serted the Grave on his Lot. He died phps ten years ago aet. 80 
circa. Roger W™s must have died about 1685 or 1686 [1682]. 
Moses Brown, a very sensible man, told me that the only Evid. of 
Time of his Death was, that by an Entry in y Records one year he 
was alive, and within a year after he is spoken of in the Records as 
deceased. Oliver Whipple Esq., formerly lived at Provid. & tells 
me (Oct. 4) that D' Bowen & others had often shewn him the place 
of the Grave on sd D" Lot. I viewed the spot — there is no Appear- 
ance of a Grave. A Niece of R. W"»s is buried by the House. . . 

"Ruins of R. Williams Dwells House and Cellar grown over with 
Barbary Bushes in 1785. With five Graves near N. W. Corner, one 
of which only has Stones inscribed, viz., Patience Ashton's." — Literary 
Diary of Ezra Stiles, v. 3, p. 191. 

12 



APPENDIX 2. 

PACKARD'S ACCOUNT 

The following is an extract from a letter by Wheeler Martin, 
dated July 17, 1819, printed in the American of July 20, 1819: 

"Providence, July 17, 1819. 
"Messrs. Goddard & Knowles, 

"Observing, in your paper of yesterday, a letter from the Hon. 
Theodore Foster, respecting Roger Williams, the founder of this 
State, I am induced to lay before the public the following facts, 
communicated to me by the late Capt. Nathaniel Packard, of this 
town, about the year 1808. About fifty years since, there was some 
stir about erecting a monument to commemorate that distinguished 
divine, civilian and statesman, and there was a difference of opinion 
as to the place of his burial. Capt. Packard was then absent, but 
had he been present, he could have pointed out the very spot where 
Roger Williams' house stood, and where he was buried. When he 
was about ten years old, one of the descendants of Roger Williams 
was buried at the family burying-ground, on the lot right back of 
the house of Sullivan Dorr, Esq. Those who dug the grave, dug directly 
upon the foot of the coffin, which the people there present told him 
was Roger Williams'. They let him down into the new grave, and 
he saw the bones in the coffin, which was not wholly decayed, and 
the bones had a long, mossy substance upon them. Roger Williams 
was born in 1599, and died in 1683. Captain Packard was son of 
Fearnot Packard, who lived in a small house, standing a little south 
of the house of Philip Allen, Esq., and about fifty feet south of the 
noted spring. In this house Captain Packard was born, in 1730, 
and died in 1809, being seventy-nine years old. He was born forty- 
seven years after Williams died. So if he was ten years old when 
Williams' descendant was buried, it was fifty-seven years after 
Williams died. 

"As the people at the funeral of Williams' descendant told 
Captain Packard that Williams was buried in the grave dug upon, 
there can be no doubt that Roger Williams was buried in the lot 
btfck of Mr. Dorr's house, in his own family burying-ground, where 
I myself have seen stones to a number of the graves, within twenty 
years, which have since been removed. But, though the stones are 

13 



not to be found, yet I cannot but venerate the spot where, I have no 
doubt, the dust of one of the greatest and best men that ever lived 
mingled with its mother earth. 

"Mrs. Nabby Packard, widow of Captain Packard, who is eighty- 
five years old, told me, this day, that her late husband had often 
mentioned the above facts to her; and his daughter. Miss Mary 
Packard, states, that her father often told her the same." — Knowles, 

m- 

APPENDIX 3 
MISS Packard's account 

"Providence, April 18th, 1860. 

"Z. Allen, Esq. — My Dear Sir: — I was informed some five years 
ago by the late Polly Packard, then more than eighty years old that 
she had in childhood often visited the grave of Roger Williams in 
company with her father, who in early boyhood, had been put into 
the grave next to it by his father. The facts in the case were these: 
Williams' grave had been levelled many years with the surrounding 
greensward, and its exact locality lost. In digging another grave 
for a new interment, the spade man came upon the bones of Williams, 
being portions of his lower extremities. Many of the inhabitants 
gathered to see the bones of the Founder of Rhode Island, and her 
grandfather among them; who, actuated by a singular whim, lowered 
his little son, her father, into the grave, probably thinking the act 
would make an indelible impression of this discovery upon his son's 
memory. In process of time, and after she and her sisters had more 
than Once visited the spot with their father, the ground became 
levelled, and the grave had disappeared. 

"But Miss Packard seemed confident that she could indicate the 
exact spot from its bearing and distance from another grave marked 
by a broken head-stone. 

"I requested her to accompany me to the ground, and the spot 
she then indicated was exactly where Mr. S. Randall, a descendant of 
Williams, supposed it to be, from information derived from other 
sources; and where, on digging a few days since, he found some relics 
of an early interment. 

"Yours truly, 

USHER PARSONS." 

Allen's Memorial of Roger Williams, p. 3. 

14 



APPENDIX 4. 

SUMNER'S ACCOUNT 

"viz. My Father lived near Tripes Spring (/ should say three years 
of the time we were in Providence— say 75-76-&77-) in a house belonging 
to Capt. Packard — near the river — and chief of the water we used 
in the house, was got at this same Tripes Spring — and the largest 
portion of it was gotten by myself — by dipping in the Pail — & I had 
it full— The other Spring was situated — South Easterly — from 
Tripes— up hill East of the -Bac^ Street then so called — in a lot Known 
as Docf Benjamin Bowens Lot — I should think two hundred feet 
from the Street where it Burst out — and run very copiously to the 
west down hill — there were four large Button wood trees round it — 

"I have drank from this Spring many a time and it was fine water — 

"A Few Rods North Westerly from this Spring was — the Re- 
mains of an Old Celler — and a few rods Northerly of the Celler were 
a number of Graves — there were some Grave stones — but I have no 
recollections of Inscriptions on them. 

"This is the Spot I understand Foster to discribe as were he 
Saw the Graves & Stones — & am Suppis'd he did not notice the old 
Celler— 

"But the Tradition amongst the Boys wasThat where the Celler 
is Stood the House, that Roger Williams Lived and Died in, and there 
are the Graves — were he and his family are Buryed. I understand a M^ 
Dorr has built a house on what was the Bowen Lot — and I think 
with Mr Foster if search were made, in his Garden, the remains of 
the Williams family would be found — ". Original letter written by 
T. M. Sumner in 183^ and preserved in R. I. H. S. MSS. v. 10., p. 76. 



15 



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ALLEN'S MAP 

SHOWING LOCATION OF WILLIAMS BURIAL LOT 



APPENDIX 5 
Allen's account of the excavations 

"After the lapse of 177 years of oblivious neglect, the researches 
for the indentification of the grave were finally commenced on the 
22d day of March, 1860, in the presence of several gentlemen, who 
were invited to witness the processes of the disinterment. The 
assistance of two experienced superintendents of the public Burial 
Grounds was obtained to direct carefully the researches. Pointed 
iron rods were procured for piercing through the greensward, to 
ascertain where the texture of the subsoil might be rendered loose 
by former excavations, and suitable boxes were prepared to receive 
the exhumed remains. 

"The first preliminary operation was the stripping off the turft 
from the surface of the ground occupied by the graves, all com- 
prised within less that one square rod. The greensward covering 
the sloping hillside presented to view a nearly uniform surface. 
After the removal of the turf and loam, down to the hard surface 
of the subsoil, the outlines of seven graves became manifest, the three 
uppermost on the hillside being those of children, and the four 
lower ones, those of adults. 

"It was immediately discovered that two of the latter adjoined 
each other, thus manifestly showing, in accordance with the testi- 
mony of Capt. Packard, that when the last one of the two was dug, 
the end of the cofifin contained in the other must have been laid open 
to view. This proximity is delineated on the plat of the land which 
Mr. Randall has caused to be made to exhibit the relative positions 
of the graves. 

"The easterly grave was evidently the most recent, as the exact 
shape of the coffin was visible by a carbonaceous black streak of the 
thickness of the edge of the sides of the coffin, with the ends dis- 
tinctly defined. The rusted remains of the hinges and nails were 
found in their places, with some rotten fragments of wood, and a 
single round knot. The nails are wrought of iron, with the heads 
flattened edgewise to resemble brad heads. This was done to per- 

19 



mit the heads to penetrate deep into the wood and out of sight in 
the finished coffin. 

"The utmost care was talcen in scraping away the earth from the 
bottom of the grave of Roger Williams. Not a vestige of any bone 
was discoverable, nor even of the lime dust which usually remains 
after the gelatinous part of the bone is decomposed. So completely 
had disappeared all the earthly remains of the Founder of the State 
of Rhode Island, in the commingled mass of black, crumbled slate 
stone and shale, that they did not 'leave a wreck behind.' By 
chemical laws, we learn that all flesh, and the gelatinous matter 
giving consistency to the bones, become finally resolved into car- 
bonic acid gas, water and air, but the solid lime dust of the 
decomposed bones was here doubtlessly absorbed by roots or com- 
mingled with the earth in the bottom of the grave, being literally 
the 'ashes of the dead.' This is all that remained to be deposited 
in the cinerary urns, which in classic days were used for receiving 
the residue of the human body after being burnt in the brick furnaces 
that once formed an important appendage to every cemetery. 

"By the side of the grave of Roger Williams was another, which 
was supposed to be that, of his wife; for wonderfully preserved there- 
in was found a lock of braided hair, being the sole remaining human 
relic. All else had disappeared in the lapse of more than 170 years, 
during which this tress of hair had survived every other portion of 
the body equally exposed to the wet earth. 

"The reason for which this location had been so soon abandoned 
as a burial spot became evident in the almost impenetrable hardness 
of the soil, composed of shale, which rendered necessary the use of 
steel pointed bars and picks to penetrate it. So near the surface of 
ground is the substratum of shale rock, which constitutes nearly 
the whole mass of Prospect Hill, that water was found percolating 
the soil at the bottom of one of the excavations which were made. 

"It appears that in this vicinity, on the gravelly soil a few hun- 
dred feet below on the hill side, the Indians once had a cemetery. 
At the foot of Bowen Street, skeletons, with the remains of Indian 
implements, and a copper kettle, were found. Many of the early 
settlers of Providence were there buried. 

"Along the whole range of Benefit Street were a successions of 
orchards planted on the hill side, above the garden lots. In these 
orchards were the burial lots of the families which occupied the 
homes below on the east side of North and South Main Streets, 

20 



commencing with the burial lot of the family of Whipple, at the 
junction of Constitution Hill with Benefit street; next was that of 
Roger Williams's family — of Olney, Waterman, Crawford, Tilling- 
hast, Cooke, Ashton, and others. In the course of modern improve- 
ments, most of these remains have been removed to the North 
Burial Ground. Near Bowen street, whilst cultivating a garden, 
Nicholas Esten pulled up the fragments of a human skull, attached 
to the roots of a cabbage. 

"A similar and very remarkable exhibition of the powers of 
vegetable life in active pursuit of appropriate nourishing food, even 
in the depths of a human grave, constituted one of the most interest- 
ing phenomena in a philosophical point of view, disclosed during the 
researches that have been described, serving to show that nothing 
useful as food for plants is wastefully lost in the economy of nature, 
and that even our very graves are ransacked by rambling roots, as 
well as by the crawling worms, that convert every charnel house into 
a banqueting hall. 

"On looking down into the pit whilst the sextons were clearing 
it of earth, the root of an adjacent apple tree was discovered. This 
tree had pushed downwards one of its main roots in a sloping di- 
rection and nearly straight course towards the precise spot that had 
been occupied by the skull of Roger Williams. There making a 
turn conforming with its circumference, the root followed the di- 
rection of the back bone to the hips, and thence divided into two 
branches, each one following a leg bone to the heel, where they both 
turned upwards to the extremities of the toes of the skeleton. One 
of the roots formed a slight crook at the part occupied by the knee 
joint, thus producing an increased resemblance to the outlines of the 
skeleton of Roger Williams, as if, indeed, moulded thereto by the 
powers of vegetable life. This singularly' formed root has been 
carefully preserved, as constituting a very impressive exemplifica- 
tion of the mode in which the contents of the grave had been entirely 
absorbed. Apparently not stated with banqueting on the remains 
found in one grave, the same roots extended themselves into the 
next adjoining one, prevading every part of it with a net-work of 
voracious fibres in their thorough search for every particle of nutri- 
tious matter in the form of phosphate of lime and other organic 
elements constituting the bones. At the time the apple tree was 
planted, all the fleshy parts of the body had doubtlessly been de- 
composed and dispersed in gaseous forms; and there was then left 

21 




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only enough of the principle bones to serve for the roots to follow 
along from the extremity of the skeleton to the other in a continuous 
course, to glean up the scanty remains. Had there been other or- 
ganic matter present in quantity, there would have been found di- 
vergent branches of roots to envelope and absorb it. This may serve 
to explain the singular formation of the roots into the shape of the 
principal bones of the human skeleton. These disclosures are cor- 
roborated by the artificial use of bones as a manure in practical 
agriculture." — Allen's Memorial p. 5. 



23 



APPENDIX 6 

Allen's account of the statements 
of sessions and brown 

"One of this committee, Governor Sessions, stated to iiis neigh- 
bor. Governor Allen, that the committee had satisfactory knowledge 
of the locality of his family burial-ground, east of Benefit street, 
where the explorations for the grave have recently been made; but 
the troubles of the revolutionary war, which ensued, prevented any 
active exertions for ascertaining the exact spot, and for erecting 
thereon the proposed monument. 

"Mr. Moses Brown, previous to his death in the year 1836, at the 
age of 98 years, was called upon by the writer for the special purpose 
of obtaining information on the subject in question. Mr. Brown 
stated that the above described burial lot had always been considered 
as that of the family of Roger Williams, but that his grave was un- 
known. He also stated that a large burial ground of the early 
settlers of the Providence Plantations had existed on the south side 
of Bowen street, near Benefit street; so called from its having been 
laid out for the common benefit of access to the rear of the garden 
lots of the original proprietors." — Allen's Memorial p. 2. 



24 



APPENDIX 7 
Allen's account of the>shton inscription 
"On the fragment of the grave stone still preserved is a part of 
the inscription, exhibiting the "last letter of a name terminating 

with n, probably that of Ashton, which family was connected 

by marriage with that of Roger Williams. 
The remaining inscription records: 

" , who departed this life ye May, 1739, 63 years 

her age." — Allen's Memorial p. 5. 



25 



APPENDIXiS 

Foster's account 

"The freemen of Providence, in town meeting, July 15, 1771, 
appointed a committee, viz., Stephen Hopkins, Amos Atwell, and 
Darius Sessions, Esqrs. to draft an inscription for a monument, 
which it was then intended to erect to his memory. In their vote 
on that occasion, Mr. Williams was called "the Founder of the Town 
and Colony." The committee did nothing, and the business has slept 
from that time. In the summer of that year, (forty-eight years ago) 
when much was said respecting a monument for him, though noth- 
ing could be agreed on, his grave was shown to me, near the east 
end of the house lot now owned by Mr. Dorr. The foot grave-stone 
was then gone, and the top of the other broken off, so that only the 
lower part appeared, without any inscription. There were several 
other grave-stones near his, in memory of some of the Ashton family, 
who were connected with Mr. Williams, on which the inscriptions 
were entire. Thinking it a duty to preserve some knowledge of the 
place, where was deposited the dust of the founder of our State, I 
have repeatedly, of late years, sought for those monuments, without 
being able to find any traces of them; though I think I can, within 
a rod or two, show where they were placed, so that on digging the 
ground, the graves may, perhaps, be discovered. 

"There is no doubt but that Mr. Williams lived, the latter part 
of his life, upon the estate whereon he was buried, which was called 
the Crawford estate, after the connection of the Crawford and Fenner 
families, by the marriage of Gideon Crawford with Freelove Fenner, 
daughter of Arthur Fenner, April 13, 1687; which Arthur Fenner, 
July 31, 1688, gave to his three daughters, Freelove, Bethiah and 
Phebe, thirty-one acres of land, "in Providence Neck," all which 
became the property of Mr. Crawford, who married Freelove Fen- 
ner, and I believe was exchanged or negotiated for Mr. Williams' 
estate, near the spring. 

"As Mr. Williams' grave and others before mentioned were on 



26 



that estate, I applied, on the 12th of May, 1813, to Mrs. Mary Tripe, 
a descendant of the said Gideon Crawford, then in the seventy- 
second year of her age, for information respecting them. She was a 
woman of intelligence, good sense and information, and careful of 
what she said. She informed me that your ancestor, Roger Williams, 
lived in a house which was on the east side of the main street, a little 
south of the Episcopal church, the foundation whereof then remained, 
which she showed me, within sight of her house, and which I believe 
is also now removed, as I saw nothing of it, on looking for it, the last 
time I was in Providence."— Le//er of Theodore Foster to Mr. 
William Thayer, Jr., dated Foster, R. I., May 21, 1819, and published 
in R. I. American, July 16, 1819. Copied from Knowles, p. ^31. 



27 







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DIAGRAM OF TRADITIONS 

ALL THESE TRADITIONS AGREE THAT ROGER WILLIAMS WAS 
BURIED OX HIS OWN HOME LOT 



28 



APPENDIX 10 

DANIEL WILLIAMS' STATEMENT 

"It is evident, that this township was my father's, and it is held 
in his name against all unjust clamors, &c. Can you find such 
another now alive, or in this age? He gave away his lands and other 
estate, to them that he thought were most in want, until he gave 
away all, so that he had nothing to help himself, so that he being not 
in a way to get for his supply, and being ancient, it must needs 
pinch somewhere. I do not desire to say what I have done for 
both father and mother. I judge they wanted nothing that was 
convenient for ancient people, &c. What my father gave, I believe 
he had a good intent in it, and thought God would provide for his 
family. He never gave me but about three acres of land, and but 
a little afore he deceased. It looked hard, that out of so much at 
his disposing, that I should have so little, and he so little. For the 
rest, &c. I did not think to be so large; so referring your honors to 
those queries you have among you, 

"Your friend and neighbor, 

"DANIEL WILLIAMS. 
"Providence, August 24, 1710." — Knowles, p. 111. 



29 



APPENDIX 11 

TOWN MEETING RECORD 

At a town meeting held in Providence on July 15, 1771, it was 
"Voted that Stephen Hopkins Amose Atwell and Darius Sessions 
Esqrs make a Draught of an Inscription to be Erected on a monu- 
ment In Memory of Rodger Williams who was the Founder of this 
Town and Colony and to Lay the Same before this meeting in August 
Nixt and Likewise what the Expense of Erecting of said Monument 
will be." — Prov. Town Meeting Records vol. 5, p. 185. 

The August records do not show any report from this com- 
mittee. 

From Stiles' notes it would appear either that another committee 
was appointed or that Moses Brown and Lieutenant Governor 
Bowen were added to this committee. 



30 



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